FELICITY
(1979)/CENTRESPREAD (1981) Region ALL Blu-rayDirector(s): John D. Lamond/Tony Paterson
Umbrella Entertainment
Umbrella Entertainment brings us some Aussie sexploitation from both ends of the entertainment spectrum with their Blu-ray double bill of FELICITY and CENTRESPREAD.
Private schoolgirl Felicity Robinson (Glory Annen, Norman J. Warren's PREY) goes from knee-highs to silk stockings when her absent father arranges for her to spend her holidays in Hong Kong with libidinous family friends Christine (Marilyn Rodgers, PATRICK) and Stephen (Gordon Charles). Having already experimented with schoolmate Jenny (Jody Hanson) and spied on a lovemaking couple on the plane over, she feels no guilt about spying on her hosts in the sack but finds herself increasingly hot to lose her virginity. After her inauspicious and painful first time with an older sophisticate (David Bradshaw, THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER) who turns out to be a lech, Felicity agrees to some sensual sightseeing with mysterious Me Ling (Joni Flynn, OCTOPUSSY) who shows her the flesh dens of Hong Kong in between helping refugees from Mainland China. When she is rescued from purse snatchers by Aussie photographer Miles (Chris Milne, THIRST), his inability to perform due to drunkenness allows the two to become friends before they becoming lovers. After a three-day whirlwind romance with much semi-public lovemaking (including a blowjob in a cinema showing Lamond's THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX), Miles departs for a photographic assignment and Felicity discovers through subsequent encounters that the physical just isn't the same without the emotional and sets off with Me Ling's help to track down Miles.
While the story of a virgin inducted into an exotic world of decadence is certainly not a new one, FELICITY models itself strongly after the success of Just Jaeckin's EMMANUELLE (the FELICITY title card even echoes that of the font for the title cards of the official EMMANUELLE series), the novel of which she is seen reading (along with THE STORY OF O and FEAR OF FLYING) and is also mentioned in the film's dialogue. Hong Kong stands in for Thailand, but the film largely eschews the model's pretentious of sexual philosophy in favor of a fleshy, fun, and guilt-free romp through scenic backdrops by an uninhibited and frequently undraped cast (particularly the engaging Annen). Director John D. Lamond was one of Ozploitation's sex film pioneers with the "documentaries" AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK and THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX along with the comedy PACIFIC BANANA and the nudity-heavy slasher NIGHTMARES.
A futuristic Australia's hope to rein in the sexual and violent impulses of its populace is dependent upon finding a fresh face and body for the CENTRESPREAD! Gerard (Paul Trahair, SQUIZZY TAYLOR) is a photographer for a nude magazine that specializes in combining sex and violence to pacify its readers. When the all-knowing Central computer tells the magazine's editor Talbot (Ivor Louis) that the audience is tiring of models who all seem interchangeable, it also tells him that Gerard is fit for the task of finding a new model and provides him with the unlimited resources to do so. Having distanced himself emotionally and physically from his work, Gerard barely interacts with his models less real people and is reluctant to venture out into the country's various stratified sectors; however, he discovers an antique shop run by young Niki (Kylie Foster, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER) who surprises him by first believing that his proposal to photograph her is a come-on, and then revealing that she has no interest in becoming a famous model. Gerard's interactions with Niki reawaken his senses to the beauty of the natural world and his photographic work soon takes a new turn to which Talbot objects when the computer suggests that the emphasis on the past in the photographs is a potentially contentious commentary on life as it is now. Threatened with being replaced and reassigned if he does not bring in a new model, Gerard convinces Niki to pose for him out of her love for him and concern for his future; however, he soon comes to fear that he will lose her he turns her into a star.
Something of a softcore sex take on A STAR IS BORN, CENTRESPREAD was not well-received upon domestic Australian release. It certainly delivers plenty of naked flesh and some visuals that are more oddball than surreal; however, it actually is pretty dreadful as a sex film, a work of science fiction, and as a drama. The cut-rate visualization of the future is realized with empty warehouse settings and an otherwise contemporary but depopulated Adelaide in which the only futuristic-seeming additions are blank colored credit cards that permit access to different sectors and their resources. Trahair comes across as more glum than disaffected while Foster is rather flat (acting-wise), while Louis manages to chew the scenery while still coming across as wooden. Comic relief is offered up in the form of Gerard's assistant (Mark Watson) who "auditions" models behind his boss' back and is pushed into taking over shoots as Gerard spends more and more time with Niki. While the photographic sessions offer plenty for the audience to ogle at length, the heat of the sex scenes are undercut by being presented as photographic montage of admittedly striking stills. The strong points lie in the photography of Geoffrey Simpson (THE NAVIGATOR: A MEDIEVAL ODYSSEY, coming soon from Umbrella Entertainment) and the rollicking theme song and closing melody sung by Lisa Edwards. For a film set in the future, it plays more like a time capsule of artistic trends and sexual attitudes of the period.
Released stateside to cable and Private Screenings VHS, FELICITY was previously released on DVD in the United States by Severin Films in 2006 while Umbrella did not put out a domestic edition until 2016, the same year that Severin upgraded the film to Blu-ray. Apparently using the same master, the 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen transfer retains the sometimes heavy grain and softness of the diffused cinematography while primary colors and bare flesh really pop along with the neons of the Hong Kong setting. Released stateside directly to cable, CENTRESPREAD has largely been unavailable. Even in Australia, it is making its solo DVD debut along with this double-feature Blu-ray. The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is bright, crisp, and colorful with nice detail in the bare flesh, eighties frizzy hair, and the considered color palette. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack boasts clear dialogue, some aggressive effects and scoring. There are no subtitle or captioning options for either film.
The Severin DVD of FELICITY had a commentary by Lamond and Annen while their Blu-ray carried over the track and added "Not Quite Hollywood" interview outtakes with Annen, Lamond, and cinematographer Garry Wapshott (SKY PIRATES) as well as and AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK/ABC OF LOVE AND SEX co-writer Alan Finney, along with SD presentations of Lamond's AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK and THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX (both with commentaries). The FELICITY/CENTRESPREAD Blu-ray carries over the Annen/Lamond commentary but only the Annen, Wapshoot, and Finney interviews. On the commentary track, the director admits that it is a male fantasy but that it was meant to appeal to women too while Annen calls the film pro-female. The Canadian actress discusses her lack of inhibitions regarding nudity in general but her initial trepidation about doing a sexy film (citing the filmmaking slump in the UK that made an independent production more attractive), adapting to be both Australian and Asian culture after attending drama school in the UK. They both fondly recall shooting on location in Hong Kong, grabbing shots, renting a tram to shoot a sex scene with real "extras" wandering up to their level, and arguing for the differences between pretty erotica and ugly pornography (Lamond admits that he like making sex look pretty and idealized). Lamond discusses the film's successful reception internationally while it was hated by critics domestically but loved by Australian audiences. He also mentions that it was the first of his films that Australian and British censors passed uncut (with the BBFC examiner telling him it was a "pretty" film compared to the American erotic counterparts).
On the NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD interview outtakes, Annen recalls being just out of drama school, having done only one film role with nudity, and touring on stage with PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM. She liked the idea of traveling to the Far East and her agent convinced her to learn as much as she could about acting for the camera for future roles. She recalls the backlash she received for doing the role from people who had not seen the film and seeing it on the screen with her mother and grandmother in attendance. She expresses some rather conservative views on pornography and violence, but it seems more understandable in the context of her hoping that nothing she had done on screen has resulted in anyone being hurt by any weak-minded individuals who might have been influenced by what they see in the movies. The soft-spoken Lamond, speaking while a stripper pole-dances in the background, gives a rather circuitous talk about his dislike of political correctness, courting controversy, and his preference for shooting sex scenes as nice and idealized compared to American counterparts before offering some discussion on the three films while Wapshott reflects on the "fun and scary" experiences shooting AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK and THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX and honing what he had learned shooting commercials to give FELICITY more polish (he also reveals that Lamond had him screen EMANUELLE and THE STORY OF O to study their visual style). The Umbrella edition adds over the Severin the "Confessions of an R-Rated Movie Maker" (8:30) interview with Lamond featured on some of the other Umbrella DVDs of Lamond's films, as well as an image gallery, and theatrical trailers (3:45).
Both editions have extras that make them worth keeping. Even if you own the Intervision or Umbrella DVDs of AUSTRLIA AFTER DARK and THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX, the SD presentation of AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK on the Severin Blu-ray comes from the original uncut version (~87 minutes as a PAL to NTSC conversion) rather than the R-classification cut on the DVDs (~82 minutes PAL) while the Umbrella edition of course has CENTRESPREAD and its extras. First up is the film's alternate UK cut of the film (73:14 versus the 82:30 original) which itself was subjected to further BBFC cuts. This is not so much a softened version of the film but an almost entirely alternate assemblage that makes the original look coherent in comparison. In the original, we see Gerard subtly starting to question the restrictions on his artistic expression by being more spontaneous and giving more direction to his models – rather than just through his assistant – only after meeting Niki, but that is not the case here. Footage is shuffled around almost randomly to the detriment of the dramatic aspects. The reordering also makes Gerard look more like a crass playboy by moving his sexual encounter with a model later in the film (before opening up to Niki) to much earlier, and recuts the ending to make it more cynical with Gerard seeming to prize his career over a relationship with Niki. The alternate UK cut is sourced from a fullscreen tape master that retains the filmed opening credits but has video-generated end credits (this version may indeed have been recut on video).
Also included is "Behind the CENTRESPREAD" (47:29), a vintage television documentary that helped drum up publicity as producer Wayne Groom made the casting process into a search for a new centerspread model with Foster (daughter of Hollywood publicist Alan Foster) and other models in the film cast from over five hundred submissions. In addition to Groom reflecting on the willingness of these would be starlets to bare all as evidence of more open attitudes towards sexuality, there are cutaways to sound-bytes from various models (all seen undressing for the camera either in clips from the film or audition video) with the whole thing having the air of a PENTHOUSE documentary. The featurette also looks at the hiring of award winning editor turned director Tony Paterson (PHAR LAP) whose experience made the shooting more efficient for the budget and schedule, and visualizing the future on a budget through sets, props, and make-up. The NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD archives provide a brief interview with producer Greg Lynch (6:11) who picked up CENTRESPREAD for distribution, recalling that the original cut was more "mainstream" and funded tacking on fourteen minutes of additional footage including the desert rape photographic session. The disc also includes two trailers for the film (2:46 and 2:47 respectively), as well as an image gallery. The reversible cover features the same cover without a rating sticker on the inside. (Eric Cotenas)